Presenting Mainstage: Jeremy Dutcher - MOTEWOLONUWOK ᒣᑏᐧᐁᓓᓄᐧᐁᒃ

Jeremy Dutcher is a Two-Spirit song carrier, composer, activist, and ethnomusicologist from Tobique First Nation in Eastern Canada. He gained international acclaim for his album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, which earned him the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the 2019 JUNO Awards. His musical style blends the songs of his community with neoclassical, jazz, and pop influences, and has led him to collaborate with such iconic artists as Beverly Glenn Copeland and Yo-Yo Ma. Dutcher’s work has taken him to the world’s great concert halls, NPR’s Tiny Desk, and the judges’ table of Canada’s Drag Race.

Spencer Cole is a percussionist, pianist, vocalist and composer who has established himself in Toronto’s eclectic music community amidst a busy schedule of international touring. He is a two-time Juno nominee and two-time Polaris Music Prize finalist with his previous project Weaves, performing at events such as the Glastonbury Festival, Iceland Airwaves and on NPR’s Tiny Desk, to name a few.

He can also be seen performing with acclaimed groups including The Weather Station, Jeremy Dutcher and July Talk and has appeared in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra alongside guest artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen.

When he is not busy exploring how to extract sound from the objects which surround him, he is: producing music for television, creating solo piano music, recording original albums and computer programming.
 

Adrian Russouw is a Toronto-based creative who writes and improvises music for upright bass, vocals, guitar, cello, and laptop, as well as writes words for performance and publication. Current projects involve regular performances with C’est la Fête, playing bass with Jeremy Dutcher, accompanying bill bissett’s poetry readings, being a member of The Queer Songbook Orchestra, and composing for contemporary dance in collaboration with Rumi Jeraj.

Sunny Kim is a Korean-born vocalist, improvisor, composer and educator based in Australia. Drawing inspiration from her life journey as a global nomad - Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Denver, Boston, New York and now Melbourne - Sunny is a two-time winner of Jazz People Magazine's Reader's Poll Award in the Best Vocalist category (2012, 2013) and the recipient of the LIG Artist grant (2011), Sunny has released five albums as a leader and has also recorded as a featured vocalist on numerous records such as After Dark (Prana Trio, 2005), White With Foam (MadLove, 2009), and Keep Your Heart Right (Roswell Rudd Quartet, 2007), and founded Hand to Earth with Peter Knight and Daniel Wilfred during an Australian Art Orchestra residency in 2018. As an educator, she has facilitated hundreds of developing musicians from diverse backgrounds to find their creative voice through cultivation of intuition, body awareness and collaborative skills. A former Assistant Professor at Dong-Ah Institute for Media and Arts, Sunny currently lectures at the University of Melbourne in Jazz and Improvisation. Invited by the Australian Music Centre, Sunny delivered the Peggy Glanville-Hicks address in 2020.

Photo by Sarah Walker

Elham is a dynamic musician thriving in Montreal's vibrant music scene. As a co-founder of the DIBA collective upon her arrival in Montreal in 2014, she has immersed herself in the city's cultural fabric and cultivated her musical talents.

Her musical journey commenced in her teenage years, enriched by the tutelage of eminent Iranian masters such as Ali Ghamsari, Arshad Tahmassbi, and the Tar virtuoso, Hossein Alizadeh. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, she's mastered traditional Persian instruments like Tar, Setar, Shourangiz, and Robab.

Passionate about singing since childhood, Elham has overcome obstacles to express her voice, finally finding freedom in Canada. She has participated in over 150 concerts across Canada, collaborating with musicians of diverse nationalities. One of her notable collaborations was a concert at the Montreal Symphony House, as part of the OSM's programming, featuring a repertoire dedicated to Persian culture titled "Journey to the East, from Scheherazade to Simorgh."

She has also performed at various prestigious festivals in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, sharing her music and passion with a wide audience. Supported by the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Canada Council for the Arts, she has undertaken several touring series in Montreal and beyond, showcasing her dynamic presence in the music scene.

Simultaneously, her studies in cultural organization management at HEC Montreal University reflect her commitment to developing her artistic career in an informed manner.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Amir Amiri is a visionary santur player, composer, and cultural inventor who bridges the past and future, tradition and innovation. His artistry merges ancient inspiration, dazzling virtuosity, and fearless creativity, elevating the santur into bold new musical territories.

Born in Tehran, Iran, Amiri is a master of the santur, a 72-string instrument with origins dating back to approximately 500 BCE. Since arriving in Canada in 1996, he has founded numerous groundbreaking ensembles that redefine the sonic possibilities of Persian music.

His duo Perséides with double bassist Jean Félix Mailloux was a featured act at the National Arts Centre’s Sounds of Persia: Canada’s New Music Masters in 2018, where Amiri also served as Artistic Director. His ensemble projects continue to push musical boundaries, including the Amir Amiri Ensemble, which embodies the fluidity of Middle Eastern musical influences, and Ensemble Kimya, a Montreal-Paris collaboration weaving together early classical and contemporary music from Europe, the Middle East, and India.

Expanding his creative horizons, Amiri composed the score for the feature film Universal Language, Canada's official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards.

Honored as CBC Artist of the Year in 2003 by the Galaxie Rising Stars Program, Amiri continues to captivate audiences worldwide with his magnetic presence and deeply evocative performances.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Saraswati Nandini Majumdar is a vocalist in the North Indian ‘khayal’ style. She has trained in Varanasi, one of India’s main centres for classical music, and Delhi, under maestros Rajan and Sajan Mishra. She has performed and taught music in India, the US, and Europe.

The pedagogy she has built, and her workshops called ‘Freedom and Discipline,’ explore improvisation not only as musical practice but also as politics and philosophy for life. As an improvisational artist, Nandini actively seeks collaborations with other musicians, movement artists, and writers from around the world. Most recently, she performed in a devised ensemble piece ‘Memories in Water,’ at MASS Gallery, Austin.

Currently based in Austin, Nandini will be completing her Ph.D. at the University of Texas in May 2025. Her doctoral project considers the intersections between artistic improvisation, vernacular South Asian performance traditions, jazz, postcolonial and critical race theory, and contemporary poetics. She is also the author of articles on arts and culture, a book of walks through Varanasi, and several children’s books.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.